Summary: Gabi and Lia Betarrini are used to traveling the world with their archaeologist parents. They’ve spent summers in Italy ever since they can remember, but since their father’s death, their mother has thrown herself even more into her work. Her latest discovery brings them to ancient Etruscan tombs. Even though they know it’s off-limits, the two girls sneak into one of the tombs while their mother is pre-occupied. Inside they find handprints painted on the cold stone wall, but the handprints are warm to their touch, and when both girls touch the prints at the same time they are sent careening back through time into the 14th century, where they find themselves in the middle of a medieval skirmish for territory.

The problem is they land in that time a few days apart, so they have to find each other again. With two warring families fighting over that territory, it becomes a difficult prospect. Add to that an incredibly good-looking medieval lord with a jealous fiancee’, an evil rival lord who would love nothing more than to take over their castle, some well-played strategies, and two vicious she-wolves. They’ll be lucky if they can make it back to their own time in one piece!

Review: It keeps you fully occupied from start to finish. So action-packed! It’s written in first person, so you get an in-depth view of the main character and all the challenges she goes through that help her grow into her role as the savior of Siena. The plot keeps moving, never a moment for Gabi to rest. There were a few places I would have liked more description, a few places there was more telling than showing, but then again, the story was moving at a steady pace and the extra description might have interrupted the rhythm.

Recommendation:It is a great book for any age group if you like adventure. A little romance, but nothing you wouldn’t want your eleven year old to see. Good clean fiction. Loved it! Gotta give it five quills:

This is the first of three novels in the series, plus there are two companion novellas. I’ve purchased all the others and have them waiting on my Kindle! Good stuff!

Summary: Sarah Cole and her sister are visiting their uncle and aunt in a small town for the summer. Sarah meets a skinny girl named Jackie right away, and they get along famously. In the midst of getting to know each other they stumble on the body of the local old lady recluse who has been murdered. The rest of the book unfolds with interesting twists and a second mystery is uncovered by the girls.

Review: These characters were likable, and the villain totally scary. It started a little slowly, but the plot developed nicely and ended up having several loose ends tied up neatly.

Recommendation: This is a good book for a middle school readership. I liked it, and would read more by Lisa Orchard. I give it four quills.

Summary: On Jon Hansen’s sixteenth birthday, his father mysteriously disappears, but no one believes Jon’s claim to have seen someone kidnap him. In fact, a media leak makes Jon into a laughingstock at his school, drawing the wrath of the school bully.

When the family heirloom he received on his birthday turns out to have magical powers, Jon soon finds himself the target of a wizard’s greed for absolute power. Jon, along with a handful of friends and one bully, transport to an alternate dimension and undertake to rescue Jon’s father and save Yden from vicious warlords and one evil wizard.

Review: Rogers wove an amazing and intricate world, a world that captures the imagination and leads it on a quest for adventure. The characters, though they come from a variety of backgrounds, meld together so well, one cannot imagine the story without any one of them.

Recommendation:Well-written and intriguing full length novel. I didn’t want to put this book down until it was done. It is a fantastic and fun read for young and old alike, anyone who likes to use their imagination while reading. Loved it! I give it five quills.

Summary: Maggie is hoping her junior year will be the best year yet, but her hopes are dashed on the very first day when the school mean girl targets her as the victim of displaced anger.

Add to that the family secret she discovers at her grandmother’s retirement party, leaving Maggie with no choice but to take over for her grandmother as the newest…fairy godmother–wings, wand, and all–and her prime directive is to make sure all her assignments get their “happy ever after”.

Easier said than done.

Her first mission turns out to be none other than her nemesis, mean girl Katrina Melville. But naturally, the indignation doesn’t stop there. Kat’s HEA includes the one guy Maggie has been crushing on since puberty hit, school hottie Connor Prince.

To top it all off, her new responsibilities require to disappear at a moment’s notice (literally) to answer every beck and call of the assigned prima donna. And Maggie’s friends don’t take very kindly to being ditched in the middle of bonding time. So much for junior year being the best yet.

Review: This was exceptionally well written. The story was engaging from the very beginning and it had everything you could want: romance, action, suspense, love triangles, evil stepmother, monsters… And of course, it sets up for a continuing story at the end. I did think it was a little strange that while her “knight”/body guard received ongoing training for his job, Maggie herself received none. Of course, that just added to the humor when her spells kept going wrong, and to the suspense when she ran into the evil Grimms–so not necessarily a bad thing.

The dialogue between the characters is so well-timed and well-written it gives a great sense of the characters and the age group. The sibling rivalry and the anger towards the father (I hated that guy) for the way he was treating Maggie and her brother were both funny and realistic. Loved the character interaction.

Recommendation: I laughed out loud throughout this whole book. So many funny lines and lots of physical comedy. Great for young adult and adult readers alike. It’s a clean read, but there are some older themes, so I wouldn’t recommend for younger than high school age. I give The Fairy Godmother Files: Cinderella Complex four quills.